Control of the cinipid Dryocosmus kuriphilus (Chinese wasp) in Castanea sativa

Italy is the word’s fourth producer of chestnuts  and first in Europe, with about 800,000 hectares of chestnut woods, including 150,000 orchards.

The chestnut cinipid, Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu, a parasitic hymenoptera, is the agent of a real phytosanitary emergency. Originally from China, the cinipid was first reported in Europe in 2002 and since then has spread to almost all regions of Italy.

Currently, the biological fight through the parasitoid Torymus sinensis Kamijo seems to be the best possible method to preserve the production of chestnut, even avoiding additional environmental damage.

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